Thursday night’s affair featured a few things seldom seen from the Orange – a collective 90% clip from the free throw line, a dry spell in the second half that saw the ‘Cuse sink just two shots from the field in a span of over ten minutes, a mountain of foul trouble in the first half, and perhaps most surprisingly, Dashonte Riley getting meaningful minutes for the first time in his career (and looking like it, too).

The game also featured a few things we’ve become used to seeing (good and bad) – Wes Johnson dominating, a blown double-digit lead, Andy Rautins catching fire, steady if unspectacular play from the point, and lockdown perimeter defense from the guards.

I wrote before the game about a few things I needed to see reappear before I classify the Orange as ready to make a deep tournament run, and for at least one game, I’ve gotten some answers:

1. Wes Johnson healed and capable of dominating.

Wow, Wes had a spectacular first half – 14 points (including the team’s last nine of the first half), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and an assist. You could almost see the frustration of the last few weeks vent away from Johnson as he slammed home a putback late in the first half. Of course, he vanished like most of the SU team when Georgetown mounted their big run, but it’s great to see a dominant half like he had.

2. Someone step up to take the point guard spot by the reins.

If you go by playing time, Triche came out ahead for this one, but we’ve seen Boeheim go with the hot hand all season, and sometimes that’s been the more experienced player in Scoop Jardine. Triche was one of three players saddled with early foul trouble Thursday night, but he calmed down and finished with eight points and a pair of dimes.

3. Continued consistency from Kris Joseph

I didn’t see what I wanted to from K-Jo for most of the game, but he helped seal the win with some key free throws. It’s still tough to ignore that 3-11 line from the floor.

After a taxing game for Boeheim’s troops, they get a well-deserved 5-day rest before another road game, this one at Providence.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 7:15 am by Brian G. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.